The Second Time Around
by Lost Legendaerie
Summary: - Giftfic for Shai Duck -  She wanted him to remember her.  Because, if he did, then they could share their memories of better times... and then those times wouldn't seem so far away. - Misty and Gary centric, dystopic/nostalgic, shippy if you squint.


_For Shai-Duck, the oasis of my heart and one of the dearest friends FanFiction has ever granted me. *hugs tightly* I owe you something bigger but I'm allergic to commitments at the moment. ^^; But hey, it's Blue Eyed Garyand I did the whole thing is less than 6 hours.  
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_Inspired by actual sentiments and a similar incident. Kinda/sorta AU or faintly dystopic PokéModern, set way after Black and White. (Maybe, by being a genfic, it'll get a TV Tropes rec?)_

0-8-0

**The Second Time Around**

8-0-8

Some people like to cling to the past; they like to selectively remember the good times they had as children and pretend that everything was simpler then, back before the stress of romance or jobs. Misty, to her own dismay, was one of those people. On some level, she liked to believe that life was like a river flowing down to the sea, and that the things she left behind would never change at all.

A sentiment which makes for very rude awakenings.

It was spring, it was raining and the red-headed thirty year old was miserable. She snorted, crossing her arms as she waited for the trolley back to Sentin and thanked Arceus she had worn dark clothing. But she was still keenly aware that the straps of her bra could be visible through the clingy evergreen fabric of her dress shirt, and even more keenly aware of the cold rain dripping down her bare legs and seeping into her _damnably_ expensive heels. Misty was on her way back from a conference about eliminating PokéLabor in hotels altogether in favor of giving more jobs to the human populace. She was just a part time concierge, so she didn't _have_ to go, but the siren song of a paid weekend vacation had allured her south to Eterna.

Sentin Town had been built, almost haphazardly, on the edge of Mt. Coronet when a rich deposit of metal had been found. It was an mining town that had been converted into what Misty called 'the country's largest convenience store.' Every traveling gear you could possibly need was sold there, along with souvenir shops, a historically preserved mine and the hotel where Misty was employed. But since pretty much all their traffic came on foot in the form of local hikers, their only contact with the rest of the world was the notoriously unreliable trolley system.

Not only was she wasting precious minutes waiting for the damn thing, the shelter had recently been dismantled for repairs and there was nothing to protect her from the downpour. Perhaps this was karma for sleeping in and missing the trolley back with the rest of the apes from her hotel.

Misty sighed, shivered, rubbed her upper arms and tried to comfort herself. Spring was stereotypically a beautiful time of year, filled with flowers and butterflies and birdsong. It was less than that when you had a boring job in northern Sinnoh, where spring was a season of slush and rain and really late trolleys. But as much as she missed the old days, back when being a Gym Leader was a full time profession and back when people still used Pokémon for transportation, she knew things could never go back to the way they were.

There was the sound of running footsteps, and some fool splashed puddle water on her as he skidded to a stop beside her. Misty turned, ready to beat this loser senseless, when her marine eyes landed on his face.

And she realized she _knew_ him.

"I didn't just miss it, did I?" The brunet puffed, turning serious sapphire eyes on her. Cogs turned slowly in her head as she tried to recover from the shock.

Gary Oak. Gary Oak dripping wet in the rain. Gary Oak dripping wet in the rain and not being the epic asshole that she remembered him as.

And when the_ hell _did he get so tall?

She hadn't seen him for... ages. In fact, the Oaks, like most of the researchers, faded to obscurity as technology began being used more for the welfare of common citizens then for the discovery of Pokémon. Perhaps the changing times had hit him hard as well; he'd always soaked up attention like a Grass-type soaked up sunlight, and he'd never avoid attention if given the chance.

"No, it's due here any second now..." Misty blinked water out of her eyes, certain she looked like a half-drowned Meowth. Her makeup was probably running too, like her thoughts were running away from her.

So much had changed from her sunny childhood; and to her dismay, the knowledge that even _he_ had changed stung. It was like the foundation of her life had shifted... like the day Ash moved to Unova and eventually lost touch with her. Like the day the last of her older sisters had gotten married. Like the day she had to close her Gym down.

Nothing was left untouched but memories.

"You seem lost," Gary commented, looking faintly concerned. The rain had plastered his hair to his scalp; she had no idea if he still spiked it, but it seemed a little longer than she remembered. There was a faint 5 o'clock shadow to his cheeks as well.

He must not remember her. Misty turned her attention back to the empty tracks, scowling. Here she was, off on a nostalgia trip over a stupid guy who didn't even know who she was.

"I'm fine," she muttered, shuddering.

"Are you?" His voice dropped into a teasing purr, then a hand was thrust into her line of vision, rainwater dripping off the cuff of his black sport coat. Misty took a moment to follow the line of his arm to where the fabric of the untailored clothing bunched at his shoulder, then accepted his handshake warily.

"Hello, Fine. I'm Gary."

Before she even consciously thought it, she yanked her arm back and punched him in the shoulder. He yelped, jumped back a pace, then to her surprise laughed out loud.

He really _had_ changed.

A smirk crossed his face, blue eyes sweeping up her frame with just enough care to be flattering without being creepy. "Where you headed?"

"Sentin. I work there," she informed him, her voice clipped and cold as she swiped at a strand of hair that had escaped from her once-professional and now dripping hair bun.

Gary finished nursing the spot where she punched him, then sighed. "Turn of the century leave you without a job too, huh?"

Misty's eyes widened, and she gave him a startled look - how had he guessed? Then she hugged herself a little tighter. "...Yeah. Not much of a career in Pokémon anymore."

"Nope," he replied, sounding melancholy. He started to take in a breath, like he'd say something else, then the faint clatter of wheels on rails could be heard. Gary grinned widely at her; to her surprise heat rushed through her veins, though she instantly suppressed it. In this chill, even a faint blush would be starkly visible and give her away, and then he'd mock her and taunt her and... maybe remember her?

For the _life_ of her, though, she didn't know why she cared so much. They'd never gotten along much as children and after this, they'd probably never see each other again.

The trolley slid to a neat stop, and then they handed over their tickets and were ushered into one of the numerous cabins. Misty settled herself onto one of the forward facing red vinyl seats, plopping her overnight bag beside her and fishing around inside it for anything to dry herself off with. Despite the artificial amber cast of the florescent lights, she didn't feel any warmer.

"Here," he called, and a sweatshirt was tossed into her lap. Gary settled into the seat facing her, his knees almost touching hers as he slumped backward and crossed his arms behind his head. "Dry off. Don't worry, it's clean," he added at her look of trepidation.

After dabbing it gently against her face and upper body, and trying to ignore the rather sexy smell permeating the fabric, Misty tossed it back at him.

"Thanks," she muttered, re-crossing her legs into a more comfortable position, noting his eyes follow the moment and resisting the urge to hit him again for staring at her like that. Smoothly his eyes slid back up to her face as he rubbed his hair dry.

"I'm on my way to Snowpoint. My dad's meeting me up there; we'll be screwing around Lake Acuity, maybe do some ice fishing." He shrugged, then stuffed the damp sweatshirt back in his suitcase. "So where do you work now?"

"Alumina Hotel. I'm a concierge."

He raised a still-damp brown eyebrow. "How is it?"

"The pay sucks, my boss is an idiot and all of our guests are sweaty old men." Misty tugged out the pins in her hair, letting it down and wrapping her hands around the thick strands with the intention of squeezing the water out. There was a faint pair of clicks, then the sweatshirt landed back in her lap.

She gave him a curious look - he really didn't mind her using his clothes as a towel? Her apprehension must have shown on her face, for he gestured carelessly at her.

"Go ahead. You look miserable when you're wet like that."

Wrapping the plush clothing around her hair, she sponged out the worst of the wet from her Spelon-red locks then handed him back the article.

"Normally, I like the rain, but..."

"City rains are disgusting," he finished, leaving the sweatshirt sprawled across his suitcase and watching her keenly. Uncomfortable, she glanced out the window where the trees rolled by to give way to nothing but gray sky and rain-slick rocks.

There was an odd silence; the kind that seemed almost loud, expectant, and kept your thoughts from wandering. For her credit, Misty's eyes never left the window, although she did fidget back and forth a few times under Gary's gaze until he turned away as well.

She wanted to ask him what had happened to his job, how he was, did he still have all his Pokémon? She'd had to release most of hers, as keeping the beasts was now quite expensive and seen as rich child's play. Never mind that most of the people her age had grown up catching and training Pokémon, and never mind that some of the best people she knew were ex-Trainers, -Leaders or -Elites.

But most of all, she wanted him to remember her. Because, if he did, then they could share their memories of better times... and then those times wouldn't seem so far away.

Misty settled her elbow on the windowsill, her chin in her hand. Dwelling on this was stupid. The dreary day must be getting to her or something. This wasn't like her, she was resilient, fiery. She was working hard to save her money to reopen her Gym again, to fight the changing times tooth and nail and make a stand in her own way for something she believed in. She didn't mope, she didn't hesitate, and...

Her eyes turned onto him, almost spitefully, as he watched the scenery calmly. And she didn't give a shit about whether Gary Oak remembered her or not. Almost on cue, he turned, catching her gaze. Smoldering emerald met cool sapphire, and the intensity of them made her look away.

Maybe she'd changed too.

The trolley rolled to a stop, and any courage she'd been mustering to talk to him was dashed to pieces. She stood quickly, too quickly, turning on her heel and making for the door - a warm hand descended on her shoulder.

"Your bag?" Gary held it, teasingly, out of her grasp. "Unless you don't need it?"

Her shoe made an angry clack on the trolley floor as she stomped it. "Don't be stupid, of course I do," and she snatched it away before he could bring her rising blush to the surface.

"See you, Gary," she called over her shoulder. He raised a hand and smiled, waiting until she was stepping off the trolley. Then...

"See you, Misty."

She froze, obvious to the lack of rain, to the sudden burst of the sunlight through the clouds, helpless to do anything except stand on the platform and stare at the trolley as it rolled down the tracks and out of sight. There was the sensation, again, of life passing her by, of nostalgia and the inevitability of change.

A slip of paper was sticking out of a corner of her bag; she yanked it out. A trolley ticket stub, from Eterna to Snowpoint. Heart racing, inexplicably, she turned it over. Neat writing greeted her, hasty but legible.

_'See you on the return trip.'_

Life moved on, yes, and while it was reassuring to leave things behind and know they would stay the same... it was just as reassuring to have things change right alongside you.

"Idiot," Misty muttered, then grinned as the wind carried to her the sound of the trolley and the faint song of a Staravia.

0-8-0

_Look ma, no betas!_


End file.
